Forever and Ever
by 875265
Summary: Growing up is a trap indeed, and Christopher Robin had finally fallen into it. At twenty-eight, there are things he wants to do—work, get married, have a child, etc. But there's something he has to do first. And it involves one last stop at the Hundred Acre Wood; one last goodbye with Eeyore, Rabbit, Tigger, Owl, Gopher, Kanga, Roo and Piglet… but most of all, Winnie the Pooh.
1. Chapter 1

_At long last, our time with our favorite characters deep in the Hundred Acre Wood the time has come to an end. 'Twas for the best. And it was not that the people of our world necessarily wanted to grow up. But without old how can there be young? Without father, how can we have son? Ever since—_

Excuse me, Mr. Narrator? I think I'll take it from here.

 _Oh, forgive me. Go right ahead._

Thank you.

 **Tucking in my shirt and smoothing down my** jacket, I took a final look at myself in the mirror. I checked my watch; the train would be leaving in twenty minutes. I had a special appointment.

I said I would come back every weekend, but days at the boarding school stretched and flew by, and dare I say I actually started to have fun. But soon after that I graduated and then I went right into college and then work and the years went by and by…

One day I looked in this same mirror and found that I was twenty-eight. _When did that happen? The other day, as a matter of fact._ It was then that I knew what I must do.

My last year of school, I met a lovely woman named Lesley and she asked me to leave for Dartmouth with her. Halfway across the country. Unfortunately, physical distance meant nothing anymore, as lately, it had been getting harder and harder to close my eyes and remember everyone's faces. My friends; Eeyore and Piglet and Rabbit and Tigger and Owl and Gopher and Kanga and Little Roo. But most of all Winnie the Pooh.

My stops at the Hundred Acre Wood had been growing less and less frequent throughout the years, so I woke up one day and resolutely decided I had to do something. The right thing. And I thanked my lucky stars that I had one last chance.


	2. Chapter 2

**The instant I set foot inside the Hundred Acre** Wood, I was enveloped. It all came flooding back to me. The sounds, the smells, the memories of a child. Pretty soon, Kanga and Roo, Tigger and Rabbit, Eeyore and Owl, Piglet and even Gopher came bounding out from beyond the hill. "Welcome back, Christopher Robin!" they chorused. They never seemed to notice that I aged; I guess they always saw me as that imaginative little chap. That's who I would always be in this place.

"Hello, everyone… "

"How was boring school?" Tigger asked, bouncing in a circle around me. "Is it really boring?"

I chuckled, thinking of the slackers who snored at the front of the class. "Some people certainly seem to think so."

"Is it better than tigger school?"

"Tigger school doesn't even exist," Rabbit retorted.

"Well, rabbit school doesn't exist either!"

"I didn't even say it… okay."

I'd counted in my head; everyone was there. Except. "Where is Pooh Bear?"

"I think he got stuck in a tree again, didn't he, Mama?" Roo asked. "He's been up there all day."

Rabbit shook his head. "That bear is too big. He came into my house earlier and ate everything but the floorboards. Doesn't he have any food of his own? Nope, never mind; he probably ate that too."

"Why Christopher." Kanga took notice of my face and hopped a bit closer. "Why do you look so sad?"

"Because he's not coming back here anymore."

Everyone gasped with horror at the slow, somber voice coming from the back.

"Why, Eeyore," Rabbit said. "What would make you say such a thing?"

Eeyore shrugged sloppily. "I was just guessing."

"Well don't be guessing anymore."

"But it's true." My shoulders sagged a little. "I'm going across the country tomorrow. And I don't think I'll be back. Ever."

There was a long silence. Owl seemed to puzzle over that word as Gopher's jaw dropped. Anything finite was a mystery to the Hundred Acre Wood, and I guess that's still how I like it.

"Now it really won't be that bad," I encouraged. "I'm going to get married. I'll get a job and pretty soon will be settling down."

"Christopher, how wonderful!" Kanga clasped her hands together with joy. "Might you even have a child?"

"Ew!" Roo shouted then looked up from his mother's pouch. "Wait, how does that even work?"

"Uhhmmm…" Kanga looked at me, laughing nervously.

"Who's my dad?"

"B-b-b-but you can't go!" Piglet protested and wrapped himself around my knee. "Oh d-d-d-dear. What will we d-d-d-do without you?"

"Who will I talk to?" Rabbit said, scraping Piglet off.

"Who won't walk the **S** e area **S** in **S** isting I have a **S** peech di **S** order?" Gopher asked.

"Who will instruct me on the ways of life by the mere impact of his intellect?" Owl demanded.

"Who will scratch my tummy," Eeyore said, but it was more like a miserable statement than a question.

"I can do that for you, buddy boy!" Tigger replied, reaching for his underside.

"No you most certainly won't," Rabbit snapped, smacking his hands away. "He needs to be around someone who makes him feel better."

Tigger blinked. "I can make him feel better. I can, I will, I'll, Eeyore want me to spank your butt—?"

"Guys, please listen." I cleared my throat and began again. "Remember how I told you that sometimes in life, people need to go away? It's part of growing up, is all. And at some point, all friends have to say goodbye."

"B-b-but I d-d-d-d-don't want you to g-g-g-go," Piglet wailed, bursting into tears and re-attaching himself to my leg. "I'm gonna m-m-m-miss you!"

"Oh Piglet," I begged, the force knocking me to the ground. "I'm going to miss you too, very much."

"Well hey I'm going to miss him too!" Tigger chimed in.

"I'll miss him more." It was even more heartbreaking to see Rabbit let his guard down.

"Don't forget about me," Eeyore moped.

" _I'll_ miss the only sane one here, as well," Owl said haughtily. "Don't leave me behind with these people, Christopher."

"I'm a tigger."

"We will all miss you, Christopher," Kanga said warmly. And that was the part when they all piled on top of me in a colorful, heavy group hug. Eeyore was on my hand and Tigger kept rocking the pile, but I didn't mind.

"Can I come with you?" Roo's little voice put a lump in my throat, and I had to wait a few seconds to give him an answer.

"It doesn't quite work that way." Especially given that the Hundred Acre Wood was not a place you could always reach by train.

"Well, at least promise to think of us when things get, you know, too boring?"

"Always."

"Forever," Owl challenged.

I grinned. "Yes, Owl. Forever and always."


	3. Chapter 3

**I had only hiked for a little ways when** sure enough, the silly old bear's legs were sticking out from a high tree, limp like he had stopped resisting a while ago. How he got up there could be a mystery, but I effortlessly climbed up and yanked him down in one pull. I was going to miss this agility, for sure. From us both.

The bear patted his round stomach. "Hoo, thanks, Tigger. I didn't realize you had to climb so high just to get a little bit of… Why, Christopher Robin!" Pooh's eyes immediately shone. "What a nice surprise."

"Yes, it's me."

"I like these surprises."

"Honey again?"

"As always. These bees don't like to share. So I figured I'd help them out just a little." Soon Pooh got distracted as jumped up and down, trying to catch an elusive butterfly.

"Mmm…" I said as I collapsed on my back to watch the clouds. I was stalling, I knew, but I began to laugh. "Do you remember when you got stuck in Rabbit's house, and we had to wait overnight until you got thin again? Only to have Rabbit push you out, sending you flying into that same tree above our heads."

Pooh blinked. "That's exactly what just happened a few hours ago."

Then this was good; nothing had changed too drastically while I was away. Maybe it never would. "Wanna walk by the creek with me one last time?"

He turned around, a big smile on his face, that delightfully cheerful laugh. "Ab-so- _lutely!"_

 **Pooh Bear told me about all the time I'd** missed and I told him about my days at the boarding school. But before we reached the water, all of a sudden, he looked up at me. "Christopher Robin; if I recall correctly, did you say _last_ walk to the creek?"

I sighed. "Pooh Bear… " I led him to a spot of shade underneath a tree and plopped him in my lap. "I'm going away for a while."

"Again?" Pooh asked. "Is this the same while that you were gone when you were away at boring school?"

I chuckled. "Kind of. Except this while might be… a little while longer… "

"Hmm." Pooh put a hand to his chin. "Let's see… How long will this while be? For a day this time?"

"Well, more like. Forever."

"Forever?" He began to pace round and round in a circle with his hands behind his back. "Bother; that will certainly put a wrench in my plans. How long is forever—a week?"

"Oh, no." _Silly old bear._ "Forever as in…" I chose my words carefully. "Well, it'll be quite difficult to come back."

"Where will you be?"

"Quite far, old friend."

"Then I shall come and visit you," Pooh said resolutely.

"No, Pooh, you don't understand." Hesitating, I spat it out. "I just mean that it will be very hard to come back-ever." (Even though I had explained the same thing to him three times, I got the feeling that Pooh could not entirely conceive of the word "ever," so I just left it at that.) "But even though you won't be able to see me, I won't really be gone. I'll always be able to visit this place. Visit you." I tapped my temples with both hands. "In here."

"In the sides of your head?"

I laughed, in earnest for the first time since I'd been there. "In my thoughts."

"Well…" Pooh rocked all the way back and landed on two feet. "I'm not a smart bear, so I probably won't get how long this 'forever' is. But promise you won't forget me?"

My smile faded. "I could never Pooh," I swore. "I promise."

He held out his stuffed arms and I wasted no time going in for a hug. It was so soft in there I never wanted to let go. I just remember holding on for so long that when we pulled apart, I wondered what day it was.

Pooh studied me, cocking his head. For a moment, he looked wiser than me and he patted my head. "Don't have water in your eyes, Christopher Robin."

I buried my face in the crook of my arm, slightly embarrassed, a bloke my age. But Pooh was never one to judge—and that was what I loved about him—and he held out a paw. "Let's go get some honey before you have to go again. Let me send you off with a full stomach."

"Mm-hmm." By that point, I was done talking; I was so choked up that I let the bear lead the way. ("Let's see if Rabbit perhaps got some more honey while I was away.")

And down the path we went.


	4. Epilogue

**At long last, the orderlies deemed me** able to hold Clare in the hospital lobby as Lesley slept. That was great, because after fifteen or so hours of pacing and sweating, fretting and knocking back cup after cup of coffee, I was suited for nothing else.

My sweet little girl came into this world in Otterton, September 5th, 1956, and as I looked into her blue eyes I knew there was absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for her. I danced with her, sat with her, walked the halls stopping to catch a glimpse of the sun beginning its journey outside.

 _What a wonderful life we would share together._

But who was I kidding? My heart was fluttering like a moth in a cage. I didn't know the first thing about being a father. If only my friends, the ones who helped raise me, were here to guide me, perhaps my mind would be at ease. But I couldn't remember anything about them; hard as I tried. All I could conjure up were their names.

It was eight years ago, I believe, that I said goodbye. The faintest traces had gone away of Rabbit and Tigger and Eeyore and Piglet and Gopher and Owl and Kanga and little Roo… but most of all good old Winnie the Pooh. After moving to Dartmouth, it had gotten harder and harder to recollect, to lie in bed and imagine everyone's faces so much that over time, they completely disappeared.

I walked Clare over to the window. I had to focus on the light panel on the ceiling in an effort to keep the tears back, because I didn't want her to see me and then get upset.

 _Where have you gone?_ But I knew precisely where they were. It's not like I had a right to miss them, for I had sold their stuffed likenesses of to the New York Public Library a long time ago, to be enjoyed by American children who neither I or my daughter would ever know.

I started to wonder, why if I could entertain Clare with stories of the silly old bear, of his fondness for honey, of his red shirt and rotund belly. If she could smile back at me, doing that little coo of hers. I could raise her the way my father raised me.

But then again, maybe not.

"I was a lonely child," I began, talking idly. "I didn't have many friends growing up. My father was always busy and Mother was estranged, so I clung to Nanny. She was always kind."

I didn't want to Clare to have a nanny, nor did I want pay for one. My job wasn't very generous, but most of all, I did not want her to be so alone. Like me.

"But you're not going to be like me," I said aloud. "You're going to have so many friends you won't know what to do with them." Even earlier as I'd watched other fathers running by—some tapping their wristwatches, others holding their children—I couldn't stop myself from thinking that thought I'd buried in the back of my mind for years:

 _Silly old bear. Wouldn't it be nice if you were here?_

What a wonderful friend for a child. Every single one of them. I had fun, guys. I really, truly did.

The light filtered in and swallowed my baby's face as an idea came to mind. Maybe being like my father, her being like me didn't have to be such a bad thing. "As a matter of fact, when you get old enough," I told Clare, "I have a few people I want to introduce you too."


End file.
